Class Attorneys Seeking $37.95 In Fees, 33% Of The $115 Million Settlement Fund.
U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh of the Northern District of California recently issued an order in In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litig., Case No. 15-MD-02617-LHK (N.D. Cal. Feb 2, 2018, Doc. 972) by which she appointed a special master to review the class attorney fee submissions in the case. In this data breach privacy class action against Anthem, the parties reached a settlement with a $115 million settlement fund. With respect to fee requests, 331 billers from 53 law firms requested a total of $37.95 million in fees, 33% of the settlement fund. District Judge Koh, in issuing the special master order, expressed some concerns that there were unnecessarily duplicative or inefficient work based on so many billers and that close scrutiny was required given only 1.68% of the class submitted claims, although she did not argue that a bad result was obtained (in light of the act that this is the largest settlement reached in a U.S. data breach class action so far).
Here is a copy of her order for readers who want more detail.